Green Light District Downtown Courtenay

Creating Community Alliances for a resilient and sustainable Comox Valley

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: what would it look like?

Downtown Courtenay: First Stage

•Close off Duncan Ave between 5th and 6th Streets to create an open small market environment of green space,

•Green Light District Branding,

•intriguing “green” featured kiosks (business and community groups arts)

•street theatre/concert space,

•Community Way or GLD dollars as part of all sales,

•a “Sustainability Comox Valley Centre”,

• “green/fair trade” goods and services promoted,

• digital community notice board

•Sustainability Comox Valley display boards

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: what would it look like?

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Featuring arts as the foundation of our valley

A Green Light District, centred on Duncan Ave and featuring the Comox Valley Art Gallery, would be a boom for artists, the arts and the Comox Valley’s potential as a cultural tourism draw

Downtown Courtenay: Second Stage

•Reconfigure 5th Street (or 6th) to one way traffic and diagonal parking to create new space for GLD Kiosks, greenspace, walking/cycling path,

•Designated GLD interested surrounding business featuring sustainability orientated goods and services –and accepting $CW as GLD businesses with signage and included on GLD map and GLD promotions

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Third Stage

Downtown Courtenay as Comox Valley Green Light District!

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Kiosks, community market, theatre space and CW$ brand a vital new business and cultural centre to our valley

Kiosks as important part of the brand and the how

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Sustainable transportation as inherent part of the

brand – and fun!

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay:Why?

•Talking to the same people about the same themes in the same way isn’t working

•As Sustainability focused groups, we NEED to interact with a broader spectrum of the community in new ways—where they are; in ways they can hear what we say as relevant to their lives and the community they know

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Why?

•Synergy and effectiveness of collaborative efforts

•A unique opportunity to bring a broad spectrum of our community together in common goals and actions— building active alliances

•Downtown Courtenay NEEDS a reason to be seen as an alternative to Big Box Stores

• Our community needs an identity and purpose that is not about Big Box consumerism and cars

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Quality of life now and a sustaining future for our children!

A Green Light District would anchor a healthy, diverse and sustainable valley as well as downtown economy; BUT—keep this quiet for the moment—a, green/arts focused culture to our community would, also, draw the kind of people who care about the arts, about a beautiful, sustainable valley and quality goods and experiences to want to settle here thus providing a larger base for exactly those values. (Marin County)

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Why now?

Downtown Courtenay is hurting

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Why?

Downtown Courtenay is hurting &Without treatment it will get worse

A Green Light District in Downtown Courtenay will vitalize our downtown and contribute to building alliances for

a sustainable community that we will all be proud and delighted to be a part of.

Kelowna, Whistler

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: Why?

A Green Light District in Downtown Courtenay would:•be a win - win for everyone in the Comox Valley. •be very good for the valley’s economy and especially downtown businesses.•be great for artists of all sorts.•be tremendous for residents of the valley want to continue to have a community with a sense of locality, heritage, culture and belonging. •be a real boost for those who want to preserve the environmental quality of our valley.•generate jobs, and business opportunity--real-additional jobs and profitable business as no other option available•an opportunity to bring the residents of the valley together in a way that has not happened in the past •It would be FUN!

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay: How?

Myth of municipal taxes as the problem

Lots of help

Strength of diversity of groups coming together

Funding

The time is right

Green Light District Downtown Courtenay

Creating Community Alliances for a resilient and sustainable Comox Valley